COO salary in the UK, 2026
A full-time chief operating officer in a UK company of twenty to two hundred people is paid a base of £100,000 to £170,000 in 2026, with a bonus of twenty to thirty per cent and equity of half a per cent to one and a half per cent in venture-backed companies. The spread is wider than for other seats because the title covers several different jobs, and the band is what this practice briefs against once the seat has been defined.
The package in one table
| Component | 2026 band | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Base salary | £100,000 to £170,000 | Midpoint £130,000, the figure the cost calculator assumes. |
| Bonus | 20 to 30 per cent | Tied to operating targets the COO owns: margin, delivery, hiring plan, or the chief executive's own scorecard. |
| Employer costs | £20,071 a year at the midpoint | Employer National Insurance and the statutory pension minimum, on top of base. |
| Search fee, year of hire | £32,500 to £42,900 | 25 to 33 per cent of first-year earnings for a retained search, on the base alone here. |
Equity
Half a per cent to one and a half per cent of fully diluted equity for a COO joining a venture-backed company between Series A and Series C, vesting over four years. Where the COO is an intended successor to the chief executive, the grant is at the top of that range and sometimes above it, and the intention is written down.
By stage and kind of company
| Company | Base band | What the seat is |
|---|---|---|
| Founder-led, fifty to a hundred people | £100,000 to £140,000 | The operator who takes the founder's list. Often a chief of staff stepping up, or a fractional COO first. |
| Series B to D, scaling | £130,000 to £175,000 | Runs several functions with their own leaders. Equity does much of the work. |
| Manufacturing, logistics or services | £110,000 to £160,000 | A delivery leader with plants, supply chain or utilisation to run. Sector experience is a hard filter. |
| Successor to the chief executive | £150,000 to £200,000 | Paid for the next job as much as this one, with equity to match. |
What moves the number
Which COO the company means
The operator who takes over the founder's list, the delivery leader who runs production, the commercial engine who runs sales and marketing together, and the successor being prepared for the top job are four different people paid four different ways. A brief that has not chosen among them cannot be placed in the band, and candidates price an undefined seat high to cover the risk.
How many functions report in
A COO with finance, people and delivery leaders reporting to them is running most of the company and is paid near the chief executive. A COO with one function and a title is an operations director and is paid as one. The number of direct reports who are themselves leaders is the fairest measure of the seat's weight.
Succession, spoken or not
Where the board intends the COO to become chief executive within two or three years, the package reflects the next job: a higher base, a larger grant, and often a written understanding about the timeline. Where succession is intended but unspoken, candidates sense it and either price it in or decline.
Sector, in a way that does not apply to finance or marketing
Operations means plants and safety in manufacturing, utilisation and delivery in services, and the commercial engine in software. Each sector has its own market of COOs with its own pay level, and a manufacturing COO's experience does not transfer to a software company at the same salary, or the reverse.
London and the rest of the UK
London pays the top of the band for operator and commercial-engine COOs in funded companies. Delivery-leader COOs in manufacturing and logistics are paid on a national market centred on the Midlands and the North, where the plants are, and London carries no premium for them. Professional services COOs track the London legal and consulting markets.
The fractional alternative, in the same units
A fractional COO at the published UK band of £700 to £1,300 a day, two days a week for forty-six weeks, costs £64,400 to £119,600 a year, with no employer National Insurance, pension, holiday or search fee on top. Against a full-time midpoint of £130,000 plus £20,071 of employer costs, the fractional seat costs less until it needs about three days a week. The cost calculator runs the comparison at any day rate and any number of days, and the fractional COO cost page sets out the monthly and annual figures.
Where the figures come from
The bands are the ones this practice briefs against when running a full-time COO search for a company of twenty to two hundred people, cross-checked against offers made and accepted in the last year and against the published salary ranges on UK job adverts for the seat. They are not survey means across the whole market, which is why they are narrower than the job-board averages and why the page says what kind of company each row describes. How the numbers on this site are compiled covers the rest.
Common questions
What is a COO paid in the UK?
For a chief operating officer in a UK company of twenty to two hundred people, a base of £100,000 to £170,000 in 2026 with a bonus of twenty to thirty per cent. The spread is wide because the title covers several different jobs; defining which one the company means places the brief in the band.
Is a COO paid more than a CFO?
Usually a little less in UK companies of this size, unless the COO is running most of the company or is the intended successor to the chief executive, in which case the COO's package approaches the chief executive's. A COO with one function reporting in is paid as an operations director, well under the CFO.
What is an operations director paid compared with a COO?
An operations director running a single defined function in a UK company of this size is typically paid £80,000 to £120,000, against £100,000 to £170,000 for a chief operating officer running several. The difference is the number of functions and leaders reporting in, not the title.
How does a fractional COO compare with a full-time COO salary?
A fractional COO at the UK band of £700 to £1,300 a day, two days a week, costs £64,400 to £119,600 a year with no employer costs or search fee. It fits a founder who needs the operating rhythm built; the full-time hire fits once there are several functions with their own leaders to run.
Do COOs get equity in UK startups?
In venture-backed companies, half a per cent to one and a half per cent for a COO joining between Series A and Series C, vesting over four years, and more where the COO is an intended successor. In owner-managed and family businesses, rarely; the base and bonus are higher instead.
Full-time, or the part-time version first
Retained search runs a permanent COO appointment end to end, and the COO search page sets out how that search runs. The bench lists verified fractional COOs with the day rate on the profile, for the company that wants the judgement before the headcount.